FREE ESSAY ON HUCKLEBERRY FINN AND PLEASENTVILLE..

HUCKLEBERRY FINN AND PLEASENTVILLE..

Huckleberry Finn and Pleasantville
Have you ever heard of the great Mark Twain? Many people have and recognize his novels by
name; especially his most famous book called Huckleberry Finn. The great thing about Huck
is that it was meant to be a simple book, but ended up deemed a classic. The reason for
this is that it contains many great american themes and motifs. Many American novels,
books and movies also contain these themes and motifs, making it very easy to compare
Huckleberry Finn to Pleasantville. Although very different "stories", in comparison Huck
and Pleasantville have the same motifs. Both the movie and the book have the motifs of
going west, rebel vs. the establishment and Jim Crow/Shaman. This essay will compare
these common American motifs.
The "go west" motif is about the characters running away or escaping from where they
previously were (this doesn't necessarily have to include a trip west). In Huck Finn the
river is the tool used to help Huck and Jim escape from their life. The river helps to
take Huck and Jim away from civilization and reunite them with nature. The river also
helps to free them from "slavery", Huck being a "slave" to the Widow Douglas and Jim
actually being Miss Watson's slave. In Pleasantville a life in colour is how the
townspeople are allowed to "go west". When they are in black and white they have the
perfect life, meaning that nothing can ever go wrong, therefore they can never learn from
their mistakes. When David introduces the thought of thinking for themselves to the
teenagers of Pleasantville they begin to notice that there are other places in the world,
this begins to change things from black and white to colour. Both stories contain the
motif of going west.
Another motif in these two works is the Rebel vs. the Establishment motif. In Huck the
rebel would be Huck and one of the establishments would be the "civilized" people in the
book. Huck refuses to believe that people can be so shallow and religious, and also
believes that this comes from being "civilized". The other establishment would the Widow
Douglas/Miss. Watson/Aunt Polly figure in Huck's life. It seems he is always rebelling on
one of these people who are trying to civilize him. In Pleasantville David is the rebel
and one of the establishments is the adult population of Pleasantville. David is against
the adults because he cannot get most of them to believe his way of thinking. The other
establishment is the "black and white" thinking of the townspeople. David convinces most
of the teen-agers to think differently than they were taught and this turns the town into
colour. Both of these stories have the rebel vs. the establishment motif.
The last motif in these two works is the Jim Crow/Shaman motif, where one character acts
stupid or strange in "society" and then becomes very intuitive in "nature". In Huck, Jim
is the Crow/Shaman, changing with his surroundings. When in society Jim acts like the
Crow, and it seems natural. When Jim and Huck go down the river Jim turns into the
Shaman, and becomes somewhat smarter and intuitive. In Pleasantville Jennifer is the
Crow/Shaman, and changes with the setting. When the movie first starts she is the Shaman;
at home she fits in and knows exactly what to do. When she arrives in Pleasantville she
becomes the Crow and acts very strange compared to everyone else. Both stories contain
characters that are both Crow and Shaman.
In conclusion both Huck Finn and Pleasantville contain many similar motifs, three of them
being the go west, rebel vs. establishment and Jim Crow/Shaman motifs. Thus proves that
even if the stories are very different they all contain similar motifs. The reason for
this is that people who write stories don't realize they are putting motifs into their
work, it comes naturally from being American.